VELCO says new power lines needed to handle increased power

(Host)
Operators of the state's electric transmission grid say Vermont is well positioned to take advantage of massive
energy projects beyond its borders.

But
the Vermont Electric Power Company says new transmission lines may be needed to
handle some of the increased demand.

VPR's
John Dillon has more:

(Dillon)
Vermont sits between major energy suppliers - such as Hydro-Quebec
- and cities in the Northeast, which have a growing demand for power.

Kerrick
Johnson is vice president with the Vermont Electric Power Company, or VELCO,
which manages the state's transmission grid.

(Johnson) "Essentially there is system
bottlenecks to the south and east of us, which makes Vermont's
transmission system particularly valuable."

(Dillon)
Johnson ticked off the potential projects which could send electricity over Vermont's power line network.

(Johnson) "You have wind power in upper New YorkState that is
constrained - it's essentially trapped, they can't get the energy out. You have
more projects being built, wind and hydro projects, being built in Canada. You have
wind projects to our east being proposed in Maine and parts of
New Hampshire. But the
power that's generated needs to move to where the markets are."

(Dillon)
Think of all those thousands of new megawatts as cars on a busy highway. Vermont's transmission network could serve as a toll road,
with VELCO running the toll booth.

(Johnson) "They'll pay for transmission
service, and the utility pays for power that's being generated."

VELCO
has beefed up its transmission lines and substations over the past few years.
The projects were designed to improve the reliability of the system. But some
of the work has also improved the capacity of the network to carry new power
loads.

Yet
even more power lines could be needed if the state becomes a major conduit for
electricity to the population centers of the Northeast. Johnson says the
state's location - and the energy projects being developed outside its borders
- will give utilities more choice.

(Johnson) "New power lines may be a part
of that solution. But I think most people would agree it's better to have more
options than to be limited to one or two choices for our power."

(Dillon)
But power lines often carry an environmental and economic cost. Sandra Levine
is with the Conservation Law Foundation. She points out that new power lines
from the Midwest to New England could carry power from coal plants, as well as
from wind generators.

(Levine) "We've also seen that with our
growing reliance on energy efficiency in Vermont, that we
simply don't need to be importing more power. And there's a serious concern
that these lines will be used simply to import more expensive power and more
polluting power from the Midwest.
Transmission lines are very expensive. They're very expensive to build, and a
large portion of the increased electric rates that Vermonters are seeing now
are a result of these transmission projects."

(Dillon)
VELCO hasn't announced what new lines are needed. But the company says that any
projects it puts forward will have tangible benefits for the state.